LITERARY TERMS AND DEVICES Analogy: literal comparison. not figurative like a simile or metaphor. An analogy is a comparison in which an idea or a thing is compared to another thing that is quite different from it. It aims at explaining that idea or thing by comparing it to something that is familiar--example Bees to people in The Secret Life of Bees
Asides - are passages in which the actor speaks , but not everyone can on the stage can hear the words. An aside can be audible only to the audience; it can also be made to another character.
Comedy - One of the five major types of drama- a story that pokes fun at individuals' or society's flaws but ends happily for the main characters
Conceit- an extended metaphor, comparing several different objects or qualities; an over developed or far-fetched figure of speech ( Example: Night's candles are burnt out," ( Romeo and Juliet)
Epigraph: phrase, quotation, or poem which occurs in beginning of a document
Irony -The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
Three Types of Irony: http://typesofirony.com/
Metaphor -- when an object or idea is expressed as if it were something else., something which shares common features. (Example: I am a rock, I am an island; someone who prefers to be alone, isolated and hardened against emotional connections)
Mood - is the general feeling or atmosphere that a piece of writing creates within the reader. Mood is produced most effectively through the use of setting, theme, voice and tone,
In literature, a feeling, emotional state, or disposition of mind--especially the predominating atmosphere.
Students and critics who wish to discuss mood in their essays should be able to point to specific diction, description, setting, and characterization to illustrate what sets the mood.
Motif-- A recurring theme, subject, idea, etc., especially in literary, musical, or artistic work. Motif is an object or idea that repeats itself throughout a literary work. In a literary piece, a motif is a recurrent image, idea or a symbol that develops or explains a theme while a theme is a central idea or message. Sometimes, examples of motif are mistakenly identified as examples of symbols. Symbols are images, ideas, sounds or words that represent something else and help to understand an idea or a thing. Motifs, on the other hand, are images, ideas, sounds or words that help to explain the central idea of a literary work i.e. theme. Moreover, a symbol may appear once or twice in a literary work, whereas a motif is a recurring element.
Paradox - a seemingly contradictory statement that may, nonetheless, be true (Example:"If a man would save his life, he must lose it," Matthew 16:25)
Pun –play on two or more words with nearly the same sound but have different meanings, as in the words sole/soul; sometimes considered the lowest form of wit. (Example: "Cobbler... a mender of bad soles," Julius Caesar
Stereotype - is a conventional and usually oversimplified conception or belief about a type of person. in comedies, it can be a source of humor.
Theme - message
Tone is a literary compound of composition, which encompasses the attitudes toward the subject and toward the audience implied in a literary work.[1[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_(literature)#cite_note-1|]]] Tone may be formal, informal, intimate, solemn, somber, playful, serious, ironic, condescending, or many other possible attitudes. Each piece of literature has at least one theme, or central question about a topic, and how the theme is approached within the work is known as the tone.
The means of creating a relationship or conveying an attitude . The tone might be formal or informal, playful, ironic, optimistic, pessimistic, or sensual
Wordplay - involves puns and intentional misunderstandings
Analogy:
literal comparison. not figurative like a simile or metaphor.
An analogy is a comparison in which an idea or a thing is compared to another thing that is quite
different from it. It aims at explaining that idea or thing by comparing it to
something that is familiar--example Bees to people in The Secret Life of Bees
Asides - are passages in which the actor speaks , but not everyone can on the stage can hear the words. An aside can be audible only to the audience; it can also be made to another character.
Comedy - One of the five major types of drama- a story that pokes fun at individuals' or society's flaws but ends happily for the main characters
Conceit- an extended metaphor, comparing several different objects or qualities; an over developed or far-fetched figure of speech ( Example: Night's candles are burnt out," ( Romeo and Juliet)
Epigraph:
phrase, quotation, or poem which occurs in beginning of a document
Irony -The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
Three Types of Irony:
http://typesofirony.com/
Metaphor -- when an object or idea is expressed as if it were something else., something which shares common features. (Example: I am a rock, I am an island; someone who prefers to be alone, isolated and hardened against emotional connections)
Mood - is the general feeling or atmosphere that a piece of writing creates within the reader. Mood is produced most effectively through the use of setting, theme, voice and tone,
In literature, a feeling, emotional state, or disposition of mind--especially the predominating atmosphere.
Students and critics who wish to discuss mood in their essays should be able to point to specific diction, description, setting, and characterization to illustrate what sets the mood.
Motif-- A recurring theme, subject, idea, etc., especially in literary, musical, or artistic work.
Motif is an object or idea that repeats itself throughout a literary work.
In a literary piece, a motif is a recurrent image, idea or a symbol that develops or explains a theme while a theme is a central idea or message.
Sometimes, examples of motif are mistakenly identified as examples of symbols. Symbols are images, ideas, sounds or words that represent something else and help to understand an idea or a thing. Motifs, on the other hand, are images, ideas, sounds or words that help to explain the central idea of a literary work i.e. theme. Moreover, a symbol may appear once or twice in a literary work, whereas a motif is a recurring element.
Paradox - a seemingly contradictory statement that may, nonetheless, be true (Example:"If a man would save his life, he must lose it," Matthew 16:25)
Pun –play on two or more words with nearly the same sound but have different meanings, as in the words sole/soul; sometimes considered the lowest form of wit. (Example: "Cobbler... a mender of bad soles," Julius Caesar
Stereotype - is a conventional and usually oversimplified conception or belief about a type of person. in comedies, it can be a source of humor.
Theme - message
Tone is a literary compound of composition, which encompasses the attitudes toward the subject and toward the audience implied in a literary work.[1[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_(literature)#cite_note-1|]]] Tone may be formal, informal, intimate, solemn, somber, playful, serious, ironic, condescending, or many other possible attitudes. Each piece of literature has at least one theme, or central question about a topic, and how the theme is approached within the work is known as the tone.
The means of creating a relationship or conveying an attitude . The tone might be formal or informal, playful, ironic, optimistic, pessimistic, or sensual
Wordplay - involves puns and intentional misunderstandings